Padding for clothes-pressing machines



Nov. 1, 1927.

R. ROCCO PADDING FOR CLOTHES PRESSING MACHINES Filed June 5, 1927Patented Nov. 1, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH ROCCO, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR F ONE-HALF 'IO MICHAELROCCO, .OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

PADDING FOR GLOTHES-PRESSING IYIAGHINES.

Application filed June 3,

This invention relates to power press ironers, and has particularreference tov an improved padding for the heated buck or pressblock. Theobject of the invention is to provide a novel construction andarrangement of the padding or cushion, which is usually applied to theironing surface of the buck of a clothes pressing machine. A furtherobject 0 is to provide a padding of the class, which will withstand therelatively highheat of the buck without danger of scorching or charring,and' at the same time be proof against sogginess and the resultant lossof springi- 5 ness, due to excessive moisture occasioned by the sprayingof the articles during certain pressing operations with steam emitted bythe buck. A further object is to provide a water-proof and fire-proofpadding comprising wool-like steel or other metal shavings,

which are naturally resilient and will withstand frequent compressionwithout lessening their springiness, the said shavings being arranged insuperposed layers upon the buck, and the several layers comprisingshavings of coarse, medium and fine strands, the said layers being heldin place and in close contact primarily by a flexible fibrous band orbelt like canvas of suitable breadth, that skirts the perimeter of thepad and buck and prevents frayin and distorting of the edges of thelayers. ind a further object is to provide a stout fine-mesh fabriccovering or jacket that overlies the whole of the padding and isdetachably secured beneath the buck.

I attain these objects by the means set forth in the detaileddescription which-follows, and as illustrated by the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation of a power press ironer,towhich my improvement is applied, showing the fibrous coveringdetachably secured to the buck. Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken top planview of the buck; showin the several layersof the padding.

Fig. 3 1s a front side elevation of the same.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross-section,

taken on line 44 of Fig. 2. And Fig. 5

is an end elevation of the padded buck,

showing the belt that binds the side and end edges of the padding.

In the drawing, 2 represents ally a clothes pressing machine thatsupports the usual hollow heated buck or pressconvention- 10 in Figs.

1927. Serial N0. 196,311.

block, as 4, upon which the articles to be pressed are spread.

The buck 4 is provided with a divided closed compartment 4', which ischarged with steam, the top of said chamber comprising the ironinsurface 4, which is formed with a continuous flange 4' that extendsbeyond the sides and ends of a reduced portlon 4f. The top 4 is usuallyheavily padded with suitable cushion material. .Ordinarily this paddingcomprises one or more layers, which are usually spread directly upon thecast-iron surface 4", and are then held in place by a covering which issecured beneath the flange of the buck. This older paddln usuallyconsists of thick-wool felt, and bemg subjected to the relatively hightemperature of the buck, ordinarily lasts but a few weeks. This constantheating of the padding scorches and chars the felt and destroys thecushion effect of the padding. The padding of the buck is also sub ectedto more or less moisture due to the practice of passing steam upwardlythrough the top 4" and the felt for spraying and dampening the articles,and when pressing work of this charcter continues for long intervals,the padding, owing to its absorbent nature, becomes soggy, which againdestroys the cushion action and renders the pressing imperfect. Thisalternate overheating and wetting of the common felt paddingnecessitates the frequent replacing of the padding, which not onlyoccasions loss of the o erators time and interrupts the service 0 themachine, but greatly increases the cost of maintenance. To overcomethese defects, I have devised a novel and practically indestructiblepadding, which will now be described:

My improved padding preferably consists of the well-known wool-likesteel shavings, a

waste product of the lathes of certain machine shops. These shavings areof several varieties or grades as to qualit and character: some of theshavings being relatively coarse and stiff, and others being relativelyfine and flexible or springy. In constructing my padding, a quantity ofthe coarser shav-. ings is first spread evenly over the pressing surface4* of the buck, or over a similarly shaped wooden or other form, asindicated at 2, .3 and4. Upon this initial or base layer is then spreada similar quantity of the medium grade shavings, as at 10', after-whichis spread a final layer of the relatively fine grain shavings, as 10.The several grades of shavings should preferably be arranged in layersof even thickness throughout and the side and end margins are preferablyfeathered, in order to round said margins, as shown in Fig. 4. After thelayers of shavings are superposed, as explained, the side and endmargins are preferably securely bound by a band or binders, as 12, ofany suitable fabric, such as canvas, which may be overlapped and sewed,as at 12 in Fig. 5. The band 12 preferably underlaps the flange 4 of thebuck, and its top portion preferably conforms to the inward curving ofthe padding, as shown in Fig. 5. The top margin of the binders 12preferably terminates a slight distance below the top surface of thelayer 10 of the shavings, so as not to unduly compress and destroy theresilience or cushion action of the said layer. After the padding isbuilt up layer by layer and the binder 12 is applied, the whole is thenenclosed by a canvas or other relatively fine woven fabric, as 13, whichcomprises a hood-like covering or jacket, Whose free margin ispreferably hemmed to form a continuous loop, as 13', which extends belowthe flange 4 and through which is threaded a gathering or drawin cord14, by which the said margin may be drawn tight and detachably securedbeneath said flange, the ends of the cord 14 usuall being tied in abowknot, as 14, at one en of the buck, as shown in Fig. 1. The top 4 ofthe buck is usually perforated, as at 4:, for the emission of steam forspraying the articles during certain pressing operations.

My metallic padding is practically inde-' structible, and when properlyconstructed and arranged lasts for a year or more without losing itsresilience or cushion action. The steel shavings may be obtained atsmall cost and the whole padding may be produced more cheaply than theolder felt pads meme-a in common use, and is less liable to deteriorateby long and hard usage.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is

1. A padding for a heated buck of a clothes pressing machine comprisinga number of layers of steel shavings, the shavings of said layersprogressively decreasing in coarseness from the lowermost to theuppermost layer, and a fibrous covering enclosing the layers andunderlapping the margin of the buck.

2. A resilient padding for the buck of a clothes pressing machinecomprising a number of superposed layers of metal shavings, the shavingsof said layers being of varying degrees of coarseness, the marginalportions of the layers being feathered, and a closely Woven tightfitting fibrous jacket enclosing.

said layers, the margin of the jacket being hemmed, and means engagingthe hem for securing said jacket and enclosed layers to the buck.

3. A padding for pressing machine bucks comprising contiguous superposedlayers of resilient metal shavings, the shavings of the bottom layerbeing coarse, the next layer being of finer material, and the topmostlayer being of still finer material, a fibrous band enveloping theperimeter of the padding, and a fibrous hood overlying the superposedlayers and said band.

4. A metallic padding for a pressing machine buck having a flange, saidpadding being adapted to overlie the buck and being composed of layerswhose margins are feathered, and the strands of the layers decreasing incaliber from the bottom towards the top of the padding, a bandenveloping and conforming to the feathered margin of the paddin and theflange of the buck to which the pa ding is applied, and a jacket offinemesh fabric overspreading the padding and adapted to underlap theflan e of the buck.

In testimony whereof I a x my signature.

RALPH ROCCO.

